Willpower: Rediscovering the Greatest Human Strength

For years, our concept of the self and well-being has been dominated by the notion of self-esteem, while the old fashioned value of willpower has been disparaged by psychologists who argued that we’re largely driven by unconscious forces beyond our control. In Willpower Baumeister and Tierney turn this misinformation on its head to reveal self-control as arguably the single most powerful indicator of success. Baumeister discovered that willpower actually has a physical basis to it....

The Upside of Stress: Why Stress Is Good for You, and How to Get Good at It

More than 44 percent of Americans admit to losing sleep over stress. And while most of us do everything we can to reduce it, Stanford psychologist and best-selling author Kelly McGonigal, PhD, delivers a startling message: Stress isn't bad. In The Upside of Stress, McGonigal highlights new research indicating that stress can, in fact, make us stronger, smarter, and happier - if we learn how to embrace it.

The Power of Habit: Why We Do What We Do in Life and Business

At its core, The Power of Habit contains an exhilarating argument: The key to exercising regularly, losing weight, raising exceptional children, becoming more productive, building revolutionary companies and social movements, and achieving success is understanding how habits work. Habits aren’t destiny. As Charles Duhigg shows, by harnessing this new science, we can transform our businesses, our communities, and our lives.

The Practicing Mind: Developing Focus and Discipline in Your Life

Present moment awareness is an essential ingredient in life if one expects to experience any degree of authentic peace and contentment. It has been acknowledged for centuries as the cornerstone of spiritual awakening in all traditions of Eastern thought. In the West, however, it is still a relatively unrecognized concept for living. The Western mind is always restless, never content with the moment.

Make It Stick: The Science of Successful Learning

To most of us, learning something 'the hard way' implies wasted time and effort. Good teaching, we believe, should be creatively tailored to the different learning styles of students and should use strategies that make learning easier. Make It Stick turns fashionable ideas like these on their head and will appeal to all those interested in the challenge of lifelong learning and self-improvement.

The Science of Compassion: A Modern Approach for Cultivating Empathy, Love, and Connection

Why is compassion so powerful? Like many forms of spirituality and meditation, compassion practice has been shown by research to enhance your health, psychological well-being, relationships, and sense of purpose. "The unique quality of compassion," teaches Dr. Kelly McGonigal, "is that its benefits extend to the one who offers it, the one who receives it, and all those who witness compassion in action." With The Science of Compassion, this acclaimed researcher presents a practical workshop to help you understand what makes compassion work.

The Neuroscience of Change: A Compassion-Based Program for Personal Transformation

What's your most importan goal? Why does it matter so deeply? How will you overcome the obstacles? Answer these questions with sincerity, proceed with mindfulness and compassion, and you have just set in motion a revolutionary method for personal change that is supported by both the latest science and traditional wisdom.

The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck: A Counterintuitive Approach to Living a Good Life

For decades we've been told that positive thinking is the key to a happy, rich life. "F*ck positivity," Mark Manson says. "Let's be honest, shit is f*cked, and we have to live with it." In his wildly popular Internet blog, Manson doesn't sugarcoat or equivocate. He tells it like it is - a dose of raw, refreshing, honest truth that is sorely lacking today. The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck is his antidote to the coddling, let's-all-feel-good mind-set that has infected modern society and spoiled a generation, rewarding them with gold medals just for showing up.

The Like Switch: An Ex-FBI Agent's Guide to Influencing, Attracting, and Winning People Over

The Like Switch is packed with all the tools you need for turning strangers into friends, whether you are on a sales call, a first date, or a job interview. As a Special Agent for the FBI's National Security Division's Behavioral Analysis Program, Dr. Jack Schafer developed dynamic and breakthrough strategies for profiling terrorists and detecting deception. Now, Dr. Schafer has evolved his proven-on-the-battlefield tactics for the day-to-day, but no less critical battle of getting people to like you.

Triggers: Creating Behavior That Lasts - Becoming the Person You Want to Be

In business, the right behaviors matter. But getting it right is tricky. Even when we acknowledge the need to change what we do and how we do it, life has a habit of getting in the way, upsetting even the best-laid plans. And just how do we manage those situations that can provoke even the most rational among us into behaving in ways we would rather forget?

Getting Things Done: The Art of Stress-Free Productivity

David Allen reads an all-new edition of his popular self-help classic for managing work-life balance in the 21st century - now updated for the new challenges facing individuals and organizations in today's rapidly changing world. Since it was first published more than 15 years ago, David Allen's Getting Things Done has become one of the most influential business books of its era and the ultimate book on personal organization.

Algorithms to Live By: The Computer Science of Human Decisions

All our lives are constrained by limited space and time, limits that give rise to a particular set of problems. What should we do, or leave undone, in a day or a lifetime? How much messiness should we accept? What balance of new activities and familiar favorites is the most fulfilling? These may seem like uniquely human quandaries, but they are not: computers, too, face the same constraints, so computer scientists have been grappling with their version of such problems for decades.

How to Be an Imperfectionist: The New Way to Self-Acceptance, Fearless Living, and Freedom from Perfectionism

Perfectionism is a naturally limiting mindset. For example, kids are taught to color inside the lines, and any color outside the lines is considered a mistake that must be corrected. Imperfectionism frees us to live outside the lines, where possibilities are infinite, mistakes are allowed, and self-judgment is minimal.

Grit: The Power of Passion and Perseverance

In this must-listen book for anyone striving to succeed, pioneering psychologist Angela Duckworth shows parents, educators, students, and businesspeople - both seasoned and new - that the secret to outstanding achievement is not talent but a focused persistence called "grit". Why do some people succeed and others fail? Sharing new insights from her landmark research on grit, MacArthur "genius" Angela Duckworth explains why talent is hardly a guarantor of success.

The 10X Rule: The Only Difference Between Success and Failure

Extreme success, by definition, lies beyond the realm of normal action. If you want to achieve extreme success, you can’t operate like everybody else and settle for mediocrity. You need to remove luck and chance from your business equation, and lock in massive success. The 10X Rule shows you how!

Self Discipline: Unleash the Power of Self Discipline, Influence and Willpower in Your Life to Achieve Anything

This book covers an incredible variety of strategies, techniques, and lifestyle choices that can easily help you to live a more fulfilling, enjoyable, and successful life. Life is so much better when you have the willpower and discipline to make the right choices and the persuasive abilities to help things go your way. The greatest people throughout history have been able to harness these abilities... Now it's your turn!

Influence: The Psychology of Persuasion

Influence, the classic book on persuasion, explains the psychology of why people say yes - and how to apply these understandings. Dr. Robert Cialdini is the seminal expert in the rapidly expanding field of influence and persuasion. His 35 years of rigorous, evidence-based research, along with a three-year program of study on what moves people to change behavior, has resulted in this highly acclaimed book. You'll learn the six universal principles, how to use them to become a skilled persuader - and how to defend yourself against them.

Focus: The Hidden Driver of Excellence

Combining cutting-edge research with practical findings, Focus delves into the science of attention in all its varieties, presenting a long overdue discussion of this little-noticed and under-rated mental asset. In an era of unstoppable distractions, Goleman persuasively argues that now more than ever we must learn to sharpen focus if we are to survive in a complex world.

The Marshmallow Test: Mastering Self-Control

In The Marshmallow Test, Mischel explains how self-control can be mastered and applied to challenges in everyday life - from weight control to quitting smoking, overcoming heartbreak, making major decisions, and planning for retirement. With profound implications for the choices we make in parenting, education, public policy and self-care, The Marshmallow Test will change the way you think about who we are and what we can be.

Amazon Customer says:"Not a sweet solution pill, but still can be swallowed."

Be Obsessed or Be Average

We're in the middle of an epidemic of average. So-called "normal" people get up every day, go to work, do what's asked of them, leave promptly at five, and return home to sit on the couch and watch TV. Society tells us that this is what it means to lead a balanced life. Don't stress too much or work too hard. Your career isn't everything. But Grant Cardone thinks this preoccupation with balance has really just given an excuse to be mediocre.

First Trillionaire says:"love the guy. this is just 10x with a new name"

Procrastination: Why You Do It, What to Do About It Now

Based on their workshops and counseling experience, psychologists Jane B. Burka and Lenora M. Yuen offer a probing, sensitive, and at times humorous look at a problem that affects everyone: students and scientists, secretaries and executives, homemakers and salespeople. Procrastination identifies the reasons we put off tasks - fears of failure, success, control, separation, and attachment - and their roots in our childhood and adult experiences.

Deep Work: Rules for Focused Success in a Distracted World

Deep work is the ability to focus without distraction on a cognitively demanding task. It's a skill that allows you to quickly master complicated information and produce better results in less time. Deep work will make you better at what you do and provide the sense of true fulfillment that comes from craftsmanship. In short, deep work is like a superpower in our increasingly competitive 21st-century economy.

The Power of Now

To make the journey into The Power of Now you need to leave your analytical mind and its false created self, the ego, behind. Access to the Now is everywhere - in the body, the silence, and the space all around you. These are the keys to enter a state of inner peace.

Mindset: The New Psychology of Success

Mindset is one of those rare audio books that can help you make positive changes in your life and at the same time see the world in a new way. A leading expert in motivation and personality psychology, Carol Dweck has discovered in more than 20 years of research that our mindset is not a minor personality quirk: it creates our whole mental world. It explains how we become optimistic or pessimistic. It shapes our goals, our attitude toward work, and ultimately predicts whether or not we will fulfull our potential.

Publisher's Summary

Based on Stanford University psychologist Kelly McGonigal's wildly popular course The Science of Willpower,The Willpower Instinct is the first book to explain the new science of self-control and how it can be harnessed to improve our health, happiness, and productivity. Informed by the latest research and combining cutting-edge insights from psychology, economics, neuroscience, and medicine, The Willpower Instinct explains exactly what willpower is, how it works, and why it matters. For example, listeners will learn:

Willpower is a mind-body response, not a virtue. It is a biological function that can be improved through mindfulness, exercise, nutrition, and sleep.

Willpower is not an unlimited resource. Too much self-control can actually be bad for your health.

Temptation and stress hijack the brain's systems of self-control, but the brain can be trained for greater willpower.

Guilt and shame over your setbacks lead to giving in again, but self-forgiveness and self-compassion boost self-control.

Giving up control is sometimes the only way to gain self-control.

Willpower failures are contagious - you can catch the desire to overspend or overeat from your friends­­ - but you can also catch self-control from the right role models.

In the groundbreaking tradition of Getting Things Done, The Willpower Instinct combines life-changing prescriptive advice and complementary exercises to help listeners with goals ranging from losing weight to more patient parenting, less procrastination, better health, and greater productivity at work.

What the Critics Say

"This book has tremendous value for anyone interested in learning how to achieve their goals more effectively. McGonigal clearly breaks down a large body of relevant scientific research and its applications, and shows that awareness of the limits of willpower is crucial to our ability to exercise true self control." (Jeffrey M. Schwartz, M.D., co-author of You Are Not Your Brain and author of best-selling Brain Lock)

A very practical book. It switches effortlessly between explaining (in general terms) the neurological basis of what we do and pragmatic methods to change.

The author suggests that the book is consumed in parts over a long time to bed in the principals that he is giving. I listened to it very quickly, and will be going through it again at a slower rate putting his suggestions to work.

What made the experience of listening to The Willpower Instinct the most enjoyable?

It is very rare to find books about this subject and even when I did, I didn't know what to expect.I was in the middle of a will struggle on many areas: some personal and some common to many people like loosing weight.I had some success before reading the book but I felt I exhausted and afraid that I'll break and return to my bad habits.After reading the book I got a boost in all areas I see good results (lost 10 KG) and I stopped feeling bad about the few times I do give in to temptation.I learned many simple techniques for controlling the mind and I also liked the simple and powerful analysis of the way we think and the many paths of the mind leading us to prefer short term satisfaction over our long term goals. (all backed up with many researches and explored in a scientific yet simple approach).This knowledge and techniques made me better understand how I used to think, I am now more immune and by simple change of the way I think I can overcome many temptations.I warmly recommend to everyone.

Everyone thinks that their willpower fails them, often on a regular basis. Those people who say they have a lot of willpower often have the least. Willpower is undeniably good to have and in studies it is correlated with all kinds of positive outcomes.

Dr.McGonigal thankfully does not teach the reader never to “give in” to the things you like. Rather you should ask yourself what it is that you would like to stop/start doing and then focus on that goal. She refers to these goals as willpower challenges. Typical willpower challenges are to go to bed in time, to exercise more, to work instead of checking facebook updates, eat less snacks etc etc.

Most people have many willpower challenges. One important lesson from this book is that you do not have unlimited willpower. Therefore you should not take on too many willpower challenges simultaneously, because that will result in failure.

So what strategies does Dr.McGonigal propose for increasing willpower? This book includes a wealth of advice and I feel pretty confident in claiming that most people will find at least one strategy that helps them. Her first proposed strategy is meditation, which is just not my cup of tea (for me doing meditation would be a willpower challenge on its own). After taking about meditation and breathing exercises she moves on to more obvious candidates: exercise and sufficient sleep. I am sure that you have all heard it before but I will reiterate: exercise is good and getting enough sleep is important for all kinds of things, including willpower. Regarding sleep she also points out that people have started sleeping less in recent decades, and in the same time people have become more obese. In is not inconceivable that the rise in obesity in the recent decades in part is related to reduced willpower which in turn is due to the fact that we sleep less. After all, those evening snacks that we consume in the evening after a stressful day can contain quite a lot of calories.Dr.McGonigal introduces plenty more strategies for overcoming willpower challenges. The ones I feel were most useful include the following: (1) If you really want say a snack, wait 10 minutes, and then, if you still want it, go ahead and take it. (2) Thinking more about your future self. People are often prone to ignoring the needs of their future selves I don’t care so much how their actions may affect their future selves. (3) Focusing on what you should do rather than what you shouldn’t do. Don’t think of pink elephants! Hard right? Similarly constantly telling yourself not to eat that snack will draw your attention to it, making it harder to resist. It is better to focus on what you should and do.

There are many willpower traps. Perhaps the most obvious one is exposing yourself to the thing you try to avoid. If you want to eat less snacks, don’t keep them in the home cause if you are like me you will eat them, sooner or later. Another trap which I personally used to fall into, is rewarding yourself after a strenuous exercise i.e., now that I have exercised so much I deserve to eat several large burgers and some candy after that =). I am not saying that such a reward in undeserved, only that the calorie intake from a large meal is much larger than the calorie output during exercise. Yet another trap is the “what the hell effect”. Having succumbed to temptation many people say to themselves - what the hell, now that I have started eating this snack I might as well eat the rest...

I sum, this book provides an accessible introduction to willpower, what it is, how it works, and what you can do if you face a willpower challenge. Regardless of whether you decide to utilize any of Dr.McGonigal proposed strategies I believe that merely starting to think and learn about willpower will help you reach your personal goals. It is also nice to know that more or less everyone has willpower issues, and very few (sickly?) people never succumb to temptation.

Where does The Willpower Instinct rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

I've read so many self help books, but this is different. It has a certain lucidity and humility to it. Every one of the recommended techniques is backed up by easy to understand, legitimate scientific findings.It's very easy to listen to. It's written for the lay person with an interest in science. It's well read and very accessible. I listened to the second chapter whilst having root canal treatment and hardly missed a word.I've now bought the hard copy too, just so I can dip into it and refresh my memory when needed.I strongly recommend it to anyone interested in any aspect of self improvement.

What did you like best about this story?

Most of all I like the new insights into myself that she has given me.It helps me understand the willpower traps I've fallen into throughout my life and given me simple, practical strategies for overcoming them. I've learned all kinds of new, useful and interesting stuff about the way my mind works. She covers a lot of stuff that I've never heard in any other self help book before.Another thing I really like about this book the tone - this writer does not come from the classic high pressure, ra ra "high fives and hype" sales background from which most coaches come . On researching her afterwards, I found out that Willpower is just one of the classes she teaches. First and foremost she's a devoted and highly qualified teacher in the field of health and wellbeing.This book does what most coaches and the writers of most self help books don't seem to understand - it starts from a position that most of us struggle to maintain enthusiasm for longer term goals. It explains what's actually going on when our willpower wanes—that positive thinking alone is not enough. It explains why certain types of positive thinking can actually be harmful.

What does Walter Dixon bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Good voice modulation, pitch, pace and pausing. He kept me listening.I didn't pay much attention to the name of the author when I bought it. Somehow, when you hear the voice of a man reading, you think it's been written by a man. It gave the learning more about the author afterwards experience a certain wow factor.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, absolutely. I zipped through it. Now I am listening to it again and have bought the hard copy.

Any additional comments?

I was surprised at how young the author is. I have no doubt that she will become a household name in years to come. She is really good at what she does and clearly a very dedicated and humble person. Check out her one hour author's presentation video given to Google staff after you've read the book. Google doesn't invite just any old author to talk to its staff. This is a mark of real distinction. It's a great summary. It's on youtube.

I actually speeded the narration up to 125% (I'm using the audible app to listen to this). At normal speed it is just too slow.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

There is too much information to listen too in one sitting. However, at the same time it was way too interesting to follow the authors recommendation to only do one chapter a week and try out each will power experiment for a week before moving on.

Any additional comments?

This book has a great mix of both quick and easy fixes for how you think about your "willpower challenge" (losing weight, spending less, working out more, ect ), as well as some long term changes. The book is structured so that each chapter discusses current research and case studies/success stories before summarizing with a single method/strategy to increase your willpower. The idea is that one or two or ... of the discusses methods will work for you in your particular challenge, while others won't.

Professor McGonigal's stories about and advice for strengthening willpower are helpful and thought provoking. Especially interesting is the idea that willpower is inborn in people, and explanations for how our environment sometimes causes it to work against our best interests.

Where does The Willpower Instinct rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Quite well off.I love the detail that is included in the book and that it is very practical, but also great simply for information without the need to take particular action.

Have you listened to any of Walter Dixon’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I have not, but I quite like this one and therefore may look for others.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Probably not all in one sitting because it is a little long, but if you really wanted to, you certainly could.It is great for a listen through just for informational purposes, but also great to go back and listen to over and over so that you can implement/try out some of the specific techniques mentioned.

One of my greatest frustrations with myself is the fact that I am so knuckle draggingly unproductive. I've read many self help books to combat this. I always get a short term boast that fades quickly. The same is true of the will power instinct but I have found, in the year since I first read it, that there have been some longs term benefits. Nothing miraculous but procrastination is reduced. Repeat listens required but I would recommend this to fellow carriers of the laziness gene.

6 of 6 people found this review helpful

J. Whittaker

4/5/14

Overall

Performance

Story

"Decent book but not the best"

Would you recommend this book to a friend? Why or why not?

This is a decent book. It gives some good practical advice, almost in the form of large 'tips', such as meditation is good for willpower, so is being well slept, and engaging in regular exercise. However, this is also the books downfall.

The book focuses on providing areas/things that will help with a persons willpower. But, the focus on willpower is misguided. Simply having more willpower will not solve your problems or help you achieve your goals.

To achieve your goals you need to make progress, to make progress you need change. So you need to focus on the change process (what to change, and how to make the change stick).

Simply having more willpower is a band aid solution.

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Mr

Hatfield, United Kingdom

9/7/13

Overall

Performance

Story

"Deadly Dull"

Has The Willpower Instinct put you off other books in this genre?

Yes, this is the last self help book I'm listening to written by an American scientist. They are painful to listen to.

How did the narrator detract from the book?

Geeky and nasally voice.

If you could play editor, what scene or scenes would you have cut from The Willpower Instinct?

No idea. I ejected it from my CD player after 1-2 chapters when the author started going on inhaling and exhaling to build motivation.

Any additional comments?

Avoid this like the plague. Deadly dull nerdy twaddle read by a guy who sounds like Mr Burns in the Simpsons.

13 of 18 people found this review helpful

Ms K L Heath

11/17/15

Overall

Performance

Story

"Wish this was narrated by the Author!"

Where does The Willpower Instinct rank among all the audiobooks you’ve listened to so far?

Kelly McGonigal is a great speaker! (Hear her Ted Talk) It's a shame this is not narrated by her. A fantastically talented woman and great writer. I hope she narrates future books. Looking fwd to reading more of her work..

2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Felix

LONDON, United Kingdom

12/23/12

Overall

"Attention required"

Great content but not the easiest of listens, good consolidation of research and nothing wrong with the narration, but requires focus, some audio books hold my attention, and I do not find said attention wondering. Not so here. But none the less it is worth the effort. The next step is the application of the material assuming that is your intention....... and good luck with establishing the will power to implement the suggestions required to increase your will power..

4 of 5 people found this review helpful

Santiago Ruiz-Valdepeñas Martín de Almagro

Madrid, Spain

10/7/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Amazing content, it is helping me a lot."

Clear, compelling science based strategies to achieve your willpower challenges.The chapter about dopamine and the promise of reward was especially enlightening for me.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

9/26/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"engaging and helpful - exercises were great!"

structure was helpful with regular exercises to test out the material...ties in the research and interesting anecdotes very well. will listen to it again!

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

monsta

9/9/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Must read for everyone"

If you could sum up The Willpower Instinct in three words, what would they be?

A great and inspiring book. I would recommend it to anyone of any age. Made me see the world very differently than before. A must read!

What did you like best about this story?

It realated to all parts of everyday life

What about Walter Dixon’s performance did you like?

The author really knows his stuff!

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Any additional comments?

Have listened twice

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

Amazon Customer

7/31/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"Amazing book!"

It teaches you so many techniques you can practice! It's great. I'll keep listening to it until i get the hang of willpower instinct.

1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Inhyung Cho

5/19/16

Overall

Performance

Story

"it's already cured my online shopping addiction"

will listen to it a few more times to work on other self improvements i wish to make.

the narration is fine but it does put me to sleep sometimes maybe a bit too soothing.

this book will surely change your life if you actively implement it.

0 of 0 people found this review helpful

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